It seems this is becoming an annual thing: a Lick the Plate obituary column offering a heartfelt farewell to the establishments that drew many of us to Leucadia over the years. Ones that come to mind during my 25 years here include Captain Keno’s, Chinatown, Little Moore, O’Hurley’s, Sub Palace, Fulano’s, Calypso, Longboard Grotto, Ducky Waddles, Karina’s and now Leucadia Liquor and soon Vigilucci’s.
Rumors of Leucadia Liquor’s looming end started circulating when Peeshee LLC, managed by Saeed Shahri, purchased the property in 2023. Shahri’s Athena Restaurant Group also just purchased the Vigilucci’s in Leucadia and owns The Saloon and Shelter in Encinitas. Vigilucci’s will make way for a new concept, too. Fingers crossed they don’t mess with The Saloon.
The writing was on the wall for Leucadia Liquor, and last week’s announcement from owner Kamil Mansoor that he was retiring at the end of October and closing the doors permanently made the end of this special place a reality.
Kamil is getting older and stepping away from the business. That is reason enough, and he has certainly earned the chance after 35 years. Still, that does little to soften the prospect of losing a familiar stop and the person who made it worth stopping in.
Just two years ago, I finally earned Kamil’s trust to feature Leucadia Liquor in one of my favorite Lick the Plate columns ever. You can read it here.
When I wrote about Leucadia Liquor in 2024, the assignment felt overdue. Here was a business that had served the neighborhood for more than six decades, quietly going about its business in its own funky way while Leucadia changed around it. When they hung my framed column up in the store. I was thrilled. It was like I had finally arrived as a local, 25 years later.
And while I’ve never taken special neighborhood businesses for granted, knowing that the end was imminent made each morning bike ride down the alleys of Leucadia and each conversation and laugh with Kamil and Tony even more special.
That is one of the pleasures of this column. A place you think you know can turn out to have a whole other story behind the counter. You just have to earn the proprietors’ trust for them to open up enough to tell that story.
In Michigan, we call these neighborhood markets party stores. That name still makes perfect sense to me. They supply the gathering materials whether the occasion warrants a bottle of booze, snacks of the sweet or salty variety, firewood, Gatorade for the morning after a rough night, or a lottery ticket to fuel that work-free lifestyle fantasy. Visits become part of the ordinary week. You know where things are, and you know who will be there.
Leucadia Liquor filled that role for me. It fit into my bike rides and gave me a reason to run an errand at neighborhood speed. Check the surf at Beacon’s, pedal down to Daphne, coast down the hill and pop out onto Coast Highway for a block before pulling into the lot in front and that special divot in the pavement for my kickstand.
Kamil and I found common ground in Detroit sports. We also had the option of a travel discussion, courtesy of Rick Steves on television. Tony had his own sports interests, particularly European soccer and tennis. Between them, there was usually something worth talking about beyond whatever I was buying.
I will miss having that convenient excuse to stop and talk. A casual friendship can occupy a surprisingly important spot in your day without either person ever making a big production of it. The conversation picks up where it left off. Nobody needs to schedule lunch three weeks out.
That ease is especially valuable now, when staying in touch can require more planning than a weekend road trip. A neighborhood store puts people in the same room for a few minutes, and sometimes that’s all you need. A familiar face and a quick conversation can improve a mood in no time.
Kamil bought the store in 1992. Think about the commitment it takes to keep a small business going for that long. Customers get to drop in when it suits them. The owner has to make sure there is a business to drop into. That means showing up on the days when everyone else has something more appealing to do.
Anyone who has operated a small business will understand that distinction. The work follows you home, and the list rarely gets shorter. Stock arrives, equipment needs attention, and somebody always needs something. Decades of that work deserve our appreciation, especially when we have benefited from it so casually.
I am happy Kamil has a chance to put some of those responsibilities down. We can be disappointed about the closing while wishing him every good thing that comes afterward. I hope there are plenty of days ahead when he gets to enjoy his grandkids, decide what sounds enjoyable that morning, and simply go do it.
Of course, the sign deserves a mention. Its famously unreliable lettering lights gave Leucadia Liquor an extra dose of personality. I have a soft spot for places that accumulate their quirks honestly. After enough years, even an imperfection becomes something you look for and would miss if it disappeared.
Whenever a longtime business closes, there’s a temptation to turn the occasion into a complaint about everything happening around it. I understand the impulse. But I would rather give Kamil the attention here. His years of work should be the story, and the thanks should reach him directly.
Leucadia is fortunate to have people opening interesting businesses and putting their own energy into the neighborhood. I enjoy discovering those places and writing about them. I also hope their owners get to experience the kind of lasting relationships that make saying goodbye this difficult. That takes years of ordinary, dependable contact.
I also hope the new owners of the corner have some sense of its history as they redevelop it. We are not Laguna Beach; remember our tagline used to be “Keep it Funky.”
A closing like this is a useful reminder to stop postponing the visit. The familiar place on the corner can seem permanent because it is so familiar. Then somebody decides it is time to move on, and you realize how much of your routine depended on theirs.
If Leucadia Liquor has been part of your life, I hope you get the chance to thank Kamil. Mention the conversation you remember or simply let him know you appreciated having him there. Small business owners hear plenty when something goes wrong. They should also hear what their work has meant.
My thanks go to Tony and everyone who helped make those visits enjoyable. A neighborhood business has a whole cast of people who give it character. Customers may arrive for a purchase, but the people behind the counter give them reasons to keep returning.
There will be other places to buy party store stuff. Finding another Kamil and Tony is a considerably taller order, and I suspect plenty of neighbors would agree.
As for Kamil and Tony, I will miss our easy conversations and the comfort of knowing you were both there. Thank you for all those years of showing up, for making room for a little conversation, and for giving this Michigan transplant a neighborhood stop that felt like home. Enjoy the time ahead. You’ve earned it.
